Happy Republic Day !!!

Happy Republic Day to all of you. Though I am still worried about the country's regard towards 26/11, Ruchika case and thousand such problems we can definitely be proud about the declaration of the Padma Bhushan awards..especially to the greatest legend ever, Mr. Illaiyaraja, most admired human being, Mr. A.R.Rahman and the one I consider a perfectionist, Mr. Aamir Khan. It's absolutely great to hear such a good news on the eve of the Republic Day! Let India keep producing such Khans and Rahmans :) and wishing Mother India a great year of environmental peace and tolerant humanity.

The above pic was sent by Dad through some forwarded mail. I found it very attractive and not too loud! Have uploaded few more .. check them out HERE.

Ustad Dilshad Khan and Begum Parveen Sulthana

Wow !!! I never in my dreams thought that I could watch them live ! As Begum Parveen Sulthana said that the last time she and Ust. Dilshad Khan had come to perform in Kerala it was 20 years back when I must have been a tiny little foetus in my mother's womb! When they entered the open hall at the Kanakunnu Palace everyone started applauding out of respect. The commenced with Raag Yaman . They both sang a vilambit Khayal and a Dhrut Khayal followed by my favourite tarana in Raag Hamsadhwani composed by the Ustad himself.

The Open air concert was filled with claps when she sang it in ,what I feel is the 'echo' style. Here, a taan is sung in normal heavy voice and is imitated as it's own echo. I will speak to my Guruji and ask him if there is a definite term for such a kind of singing. So please excuse me if I have used a wrong term as such. Ustad Dilshad sang the right opposite of an echo. He produced the echo effect first and then sang it in the heavy tone. Mashallah!

Third presentation was in a rare raag known as 'Maluha Maand'. As Parveenji was explaining about the raag, Ustad interrupted by saying it's the marriage of a woman and a man. He then winked at her and the place was filled with mild laughter as though mocking him for teasing her at a serious discussion point. Such a jovial person. My mom was saying that a Guru should also have a jovial, fun loving side to enhance a student's relationship with the Guru. Ustad said that Maluha is a raag which has the features similiar to that of a man. Very dominant, bold ans strong. Whereas, Maand is more frivolous in nature and has a little bit of mischief! So the marriage/ combination of the raaga is 'Maluha Maand'. A beautiful Tarana in the same raag was also performed and there was this one line which was sung in persian language. At the end of the presentation of the raag the Ustad mentioned that tarana happens to mean 'love song' in Persian language. And that it is extremely important to incorporate atleast one line of the language in the tarana instead of only 'tabala bols'.

Soon after their second performance Pt. Ramesh Narayan felicitated them and the concert was also enlightened by the presence of carnatic vocalists, Mrs. Binni Krishnakumar and Mr. Krishnakumar and famous Cine Music Director, M. Jayachandran.

The concert was closed with two Meera bhajans. One of them was in Raag Misra Bhairavi! Beautifully rendered and Parveen Sulthanaji has always been my favourite female classical vocalist in Hindustani. I am glad I could be a part of this Festival.

Dr. Gopalakrishnan on Astrology

The first time I ever knew about Dr. Gopalakrishnan was when my mom was reading out a sloka explained by him when I was around 10 or eleven. That time I couldn't remember his name but that sloka became a part of my life ever since. As I grew up she would tell me of how he used to speak about a lot of superstitions which were not bothered to be explained on scientific terms by a lot who belonged to the older generation. I keep wondering how no one ever wanted to know why we follow certain things as per tradition. One such a thing is doing the Ganapati Homam in a newly built house. It is actually done because the homam emits a lot of elements help in purifying the air and of course that will spread positivity in the atmosphere around us. Many such things were explained by him and I am a big fan of him. I have even prepared a list of things to ask in case I meet him somewhere!!

Just caught up with some awesomatic videos where Dr. Gopalakrishnan, Hon. Director of the IISH (Indian Institute of Scientific Heritage) was speaking in depth about Astrology. Such an eye opener! I absolutely believe in astrology as a science. But sadly somehow one thing leads to another and I get a little curious to find out what my stars have to say. As per the scientist astrology is all about the celestial constellation once we start breathing. Since astrology is predicted on the basis of the birth timing , there are four ways of considering it. One is when the baby's head is seen, second is when the whole baby is out of the womb, third is when the baby starts crying, fourth is when the baby is separated from the mother on cutting the umbilical chord. But Dr. Gopalakrishnan explains about the fifth and the most important way of considering the timing is when the sperm meets the egg which sadly cannot be recorded. Hence, this could be one of the problems as to why some horoscopes read the opposite of it's owner's life!

He explained in detail about the position of the earth, greenwich line, and how astrology is a science that can be proved. But what is appalling is that people don't really care about the science part but the predictions. Here, prediction , as the word suggests, is a 50-50 chance which explains why some things work as per the astrologer's say and some don't. Predictions cannot be explained scientifically and is not a part of scientific astrology.

Another interesting fact that the scientist mentioned was that some people study the subject only to prove it wrong, to challenge it or to insult it. One should study it for 2 purposes: To learn if it is scientific and second to see if it's useful in our life. Funnily, both don't have to compliment each other in all situations. Emotions, feelings, respect are unexplainable by science but are excessively used in our lives.

Please do not blindly believe in astrology and drive your life in the roads suggested by interpreters of the stars. Nothing can define your life more than your hard work and will power and your prayers. If you are still interested in having a peek at your future then what is best is to be happy about all the good things told about your life and to blame all the obstacles to the astrologer's reading or blame the nurse who took down your birth time ;) !!!

Jan 6th - The B'day Boy

A.R.RAHMAN

The man who's made me think over and over again about one note.
The man who's made me think over and over again about the 7 notes.
The man who's made me think about m.u.s.i.c.

Happy Birthday to the Maestro, my inspiration, my first step to realizing c.r.e.a.t.i.v.i.t.y.

Media on sensational news

Wow.. 2 centuries !! My 201th post :) Watched a big debate on media hyping up sensational news. Well of course they have had their share of mistakes but there are few things I wanted to blog which was prominently spoken by the panelists of the debate. Media has played a very vital role and I do believe that they are the conscience of the society, the people. Cases like the Neelam Katara case, Jessica Lal , Aarushi's and even the Ruchika case would have not progressed this way if the media would not have reported in this manner. Their efforts are totally appreciated. But also in terms of getting into the depth of each case and the consequences of the adjacent angles have to be given equal or more importance. Like one of the panelists had mentioned, Rathore was definitely the centre of attraction in a bad way but after that every news update about the case had only been showing Rathore's politics and corruption. This is the point where the media can actually showcase the running of corruption happening among the police forces, politicians and the judiciary. It's so depressing. Girls are anyways not safe in any area how ever early or late hours of the day and if at all something bad happens no justice is done. I really wish the media could also emphasize on such material facts which could bring some sort of an enforcement of doing things in the right manner.. especially the system of law! Honestly my faith from the judiciary is totally blown away after the Ruchika case. It feels even more insecure and worries to see the gen next of women grow up in such an insecure environment.So *applause* for the media for everything they have done to provide justice !!!

Youtube...my tube to life

Listening to a lot of world music nowadays. I am incredibly thankful to Steve, Chad and Jawed for youtube , my source to majority of my collections. When my dad used to brag about his once-upon-a-times I really used to chuck it saying every gen next have their share of struggles. But this time literally , dil se, I totally agree with him cos of youtube. I mean what more could once ask from life??? I got some of the golden-est (really mean it !) of the golden classics to the most jazz-iest of the lot in any language !! Life's totally revolving around a click. This is where I support technology 100 x infinite times !! :)

Chetan Bhagat should be given the credits

Feeling really bad for Chetan Bhagat cos of the whole '3 idiots' issue. Definitely the makers should be given credits for original 'screenplay/ script' and not for original 'story'.Infact I find the story modified and not recreated. Like Chetan highlighted at a live News talk , how can a film be given the credits of original story when it has been based on a hit seller book? Irrespective of Chetan being given his dues as per agreement it certainly is not ethical to be forward enough to take up the credits themself. Clearly 3 idiots is a lot different from Five.someone but the basic things like Raju moving over to Chatur's room, they splitting up, they stealing the papers, Raju trying to commit suicide, Raju's family conditions are interpreted in the movie just like in the book. This is the soul of the movie . I totally agree with Bhagat to fight for his moral rights and also he's being reasonable by asking for genuine compromise in terms of giving him the 3rd place in credits for the adaptation and not in terms of money. Sad is the state of writers who spend years for making a book like five.someone. Whether the credits are given or not I am still going to remain a big fan of his books and hope that the humour nevers dies out from his future works.


P.S.Got to watch 3 idiots 2 days back and one great work I say. Truly enjoyable though they included a lot of cliches.

Welcome 2010 !!!

Late by two days I know!! but... HAPPY NEW YEAR !!! Well the first half of 2009 was pretty low for me. Silly predictions, zero results, bad bad health, dealing with intolerable problems attached to the college, University and their tantrums... it would be better to not blog about it !! But around mid April I got to sing for Ritu and I still feel very blessed to be a part of the project. I am one of the lucky ones to be a part of this film and most importantly it felt like a family rather than a 'film'.

My work accelerated as a TV presenter too. Got loads of offers but I didn't take them up cos I felt I am best made for singing, music. How much ever I indulge myself into photography, news debates, blogging and wotnot ..at the end I feel full only when I am into music. To work with Stephen Devassi at a very early stage of my career is truly a blessing in form of Rosebowl. The amount one gets to learn from the experienced is like a treasure box. I also came up with a lot of innovative ideas, took my first step into composing seriously, etc. So 2009 was almost like 'making of a musician' ..I'm there..but not completely. Everyone has been raving about what a great year 2010 is going to be for everyone. Wonder why 2010! Somewhere in the midst of all this discussion even I feel, out of my intuitions that something big is waiting for me in 2010. I hope there is progress in law and order of our country and the climatic conditions. Hope is not all we can do .. it's time to make a difference in some way or the other. So this year is going to be one of the action-oriented decision-making years.. Wishing you all a year of excellence!!